Campanula
by Enchantable
Summary: Rapunzel's first day as a Princess does not go exactly as planned. Luckily her Rogue is there to help along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING!**

**Okay so this is a three shot (right now) chronicling Rapunzel's first day as a not-so-lost-Princess as well as her and Eugene coming to terms with what's happened. **

**Btw, Eugene? Has to be the best name for a Disney Prince ever! He's so adorable and I love how embarrassed he gets about his name in front of her. And because I see it spelled 'Flynn Ryder' all over the place, that's how I'm spelling his name here. But of course I'm using Eugene because, seriously, how could you not?**

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When Flynn Ryder had outlandishly declared he wanted a palace he had been joking.

Sorta.

Now, while he did not own a palace quite yet, he was staying as a guest in one. Which was certainly a lot closer to accomplishing his one time goal than he had ever thought he would actually get. The guest room he had been given to stay in was huge by anyone's standards and certainly far more lavish than anywhere he had ever stayed previously. And while he had had always considered himself adaptable to the situation at hand, even he had to admit the show of kindness and generosity that went along with the room were making him distinctly uncomfortable.

Especially considering that yesterday he had been bleeding out on the floor of a tower, actually prepared to die to see someone else safe.

The one set of clothing that he had owned had been taken away and replaced, not that the bloody, ripped shirt was going to be much use anymore. The clothes he wore now were not lavish, yet the fabric used to make them was finer than any he had touched. And to think all this had happened because he had robbed the palace and accidentally returned the crown to its rightful owner. That and the fact he had picked a terrible place to hide.

And now instead of being Flynn Ryder, the dashing thief and soon-to-be richer than God, go anywhere at any time man with a private island, he was Eugene Fitzherbert who was actually closer to most of those goals than Flynn Ryder had ever come. Not that any of them seemed to matter anymore. No, the only person that seemed to matter anymore was off in another wing of the palace, probably preparing for her first day as a Princess.

His hand stopped on the buttons of his shirt. First day as a Princess. Three days ago Rapunzel had never been out of her tower and now she was just expected to, what, exactly? Greet the people? Catch up with her parents? Eugene had no idea. His education on both parents and Princess's was sorely lacking. How did one go about interacting with people they should know but didn't? For that matter how did one go about being a Princess? Or just a regular girl when they spent their entire life being something completely different.

Slowly Eugene withdrew his hand, looking at his palm. It should have had a mark in it, two actually, one from the rocks and one from the mirror shard. But the skin was smooth and unblemished, as was the skin of his side where a knife should have at least given him a scar. Really it should have killed him outright. It seemed that Rapunzel's healing made no distinction between hand scars and mortal stab wounds. Which was a change from the wrap-your-hair-and-just-heal-that-wound affair that seemed to have gone on before.

Flexing his fingers, he let out a breath of air. He had sliced off her hair in an effort to save her life, to keep that old witch from getting her claws into the young woman. Rapunzel kept her promises but the one to stay forever with her 'mother' was one he couldn't let her keep. But even though he knew he had done the best thing, all he could see was her shocked face as the weight of 70 feet of hair disappeared in an instant. He had been so blindly determined to make sure she was able to make her own decisions that he hadn't realized he was doing exactly what Mother Gothel had been: controlling the young woman's destiny. Letting his hand fall to the side, Eugene looked at the mirror in front of him.

The man who looked back at him with his shirt half done still managed to look better than he ever had. Though given all that had happened Eugene had a feeling it was far more to do with Rapunzel's magic than anything else. The idea of leaving this place had crossed his mind several times but Rapunzel already thought that he had left her once and he couldn't quite make himself do it. Not that he was even sure he _wanted_ to leave.

"What are you doing?" he asked his reflection.

Next thing he knew he'd be going by Eugene full time and, what, exactly? Not being a thief? Not running across kingdoms or hiding from palace guards? Suddenly his words about finding new dreams seemed just as silly and outlandish as his words about wanting a castle. He wanted the freedom to go anywhere, to do anything, but now that dream seemed entirely hollow and pointless.

It was one thing to accomplish a long-held dream.

Finding another one was entirely different and far more daunting task.

"Damn it," Eugene swore, turning away from the mirror and buttoning up the rest of his shirt.

His boots at least had been salvageable and while a pristine pair of polished black ones had been sent up with the rest of his clothing, he pulled on the worn brown suede ones instead and walked out into the equally perfect and pristine hall of the royal palace. Like the room he had been given it was white and gold and perfectly nondescript. His glimpse of Rapunzel's tower had shown him that the space was perfectly unique and completely her own, full of paintings and things that were completely her. There was none of the grandeur of the palace, and none of the coldness either.

He gave no thought to the sound of his boots on the marble and gold as he walked down the hallway. The lead knot that settled in his stomach seemed to get heavier with each fall of his boots. His pace quickened as his feet took him through the spiraling corridors, though he had no idea if he was going in the right direction. Not from inside the palace at least. He walked quickly, his pace barely less than a run but by some twist of fate he found no-one who could give him directions-not that he thought a guard would be giving a thief directions to a princess.

Looking over his shoulder, Eugene spied a pair of double glass doors that led onto what could only be a balcony. Breaking into a run he opened them and stepped onto it, turning to face the palace. Even in the predawn glow, the palace seemed to shine in the light. His eyes easily found the windows that faced east, letting the most light into the throne room. From there he counted the windows that led to the place with the highest concentration of guards, which he had was certain were the King and Queen's quarters. And from there he counted over several more until his eyes came to rest at the one set which were open. That had to be where Rapunzel was.

Running back through the doors, Eugene did his best to keep the image of the outside of the palace in his mind. From the outside he knew exactly how to navigate to anywhere important, aka the throne room with the jewels. Inside, however, with the winding corridors and everything looking the same, it was much harder to navigate. Rounding the corner, however, he was met with the sight of enough guards that there was no doubt beyond the pretty doors was the formerly lost Princess.

Purely out of habit, Eugene ducked back around the corner and flattened himself alongside the wall. Almost immediately he realized how stupid he was being. He wasn't robbing the palace and if the group hug he'd shared with the King and Queen was any indication then bringing back a lost Princess was apparently fair trade for stealing her crown. Forcing the last remnants of fear of the guards aside, Eugene stepped out and walked into the circular room, where he was immediately greeted by the guards straightening up and locking their eyes on him.

"Easy guys," he said with a grin, holding up his hands, "its just me," he added, "and I'm just here to see the Princess."

The guards looked at each other, clearly wanting to say no but seemingly unable to do so. Much to Eugene's shock, the guards stepped aside to allow him a clear path to the door. His eyes moved between the two rows of heavily armed, obviously displeased guards but none of them made a move to stop him.

"You're not going to stop me? Really?" he asked, too surprised to keep his mouth shut.

"We've been ordered not to," the obvious leader said, though it seemed to pain him to do it.

"Are you sure?" Eugene asked, "because I-"

The guard gave him a look that could have curdled cream and Eugene trailed off. He had expected more of a fight, and, if he was being honest, more of an excuse to stop himself from going into Rapunzel's room. But apparently that wasn't coming from the palace guards. His eyes went to the door that seemed impossibly foreboding now. Forcing his feet forward, he walked over to the doors and raised a fist, knocking gingerly on the door.

No-one answered.

"Oh well," Eugene said, turning around, "she's probably still asleep. I'd hate to wake he-"

His last word was cut off as the door opened and instantly a pair of hands grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him forcibly into the room. Surprise counteracted his time-honed skills as a thief and he stumbled forward before turning around in time to see the petite Princess slam the door shut behind him with both hands before lunging to the side and grabbing an ornate chair decorated with elegant gold leaf and wedging it underneath the door handles.

"Are you rested?" Rapunzel demanded turning to him.

"Am I what?" Eugene asked.

"Are you rested?" the young woman demanded, impatience shining in her eyes, "people don't usually need rest after I heal them but maybe things are different now and anyway I thought with the rescuing and the running around that maybe you'd need rest," she rambled on, "so are you?" she asked finally.

"Yes?" he replied, his voice unsure.

"Good. Because we're leaving."

"We're what now?" Eugene asked.

"I said 'we're leaving'," Rapunzel said striding across the room towards the open windows which she had lodged a desk underneath, "you said to find a new dream and that is exactly what we are doing, finding a new dream," she added stepping onto the desk.

"Woah, wait a second," Eugene crossed the room over to the desk, "uhh, lets talk about this for a second because this is a very high tower-"

"Exactly!" Rapunzel turned around to look at him, her jade eyes bright, "which is why we are leaving," she said turning around to the open window.

All Eugene saw was the apparently borderline hysterical Princess, the long drop and the fact that there was no longer 70 feet of hair to keep her from breaking her neck on the way down. Horror flooded him as she stepped forward, placing her toes on the ledge of the window while one foot remained on the desk. Nimbly Eugene jumped onto the desk, taking care not to jostle it and throw her off balance. Rapunzel glanced over at him before bracing her hand against the window sill and looking down at the drop below.

"How do we get down?" she asked.

"Back up a second there," Eugene said, "why are we about to 'escape' from the royal palace that is technically your home?"

"Because you told me to find a new dream!" Rapunzel said looking over at him.

"Okay you lost me," Eugene said, "why don't we discuss this away from the very open, very high window-" he looked down at the desk, "preferably somewhere other than on this less than sturdy surface?"

Rapunzel looked at him, seemingly torn between ignoring him and scrambling down the tower with her bare hands and explaining to him exactly why she was thinking of doing something so insane. Just as Eugene got ready to jump forward and block her from going out the window, Rapunzel turned away from it and dropped onto the desk, burying her face in her hands. Eugene breathed a sigh of relief before realizing the danger hadn't fully passed. Carefully he lowered himself down to the floor before standing next to her as her shoulders began to shake.

"Hey," Eugene began awkwardly, "its not that bad-" he reached out and patted her shoulder, "whatever it is-"

With a sob Rapunzel launched herself off the desk and buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his mid-section. Eugene looked down at the armful of sobbing Princess. He didn't think he had comforted anyone since he left the orphanage years ago. Yet his arms easily came up around her as he pulled her gently but firmly against him. Rapunzel only sobbed harder at his comfort, her arms wrapping tighter around him. Thankfully there was no bright glow. Apparently there needed to be a wound for her tears to heal. Otherwise they were just, well, tears.

Taking advantage of her momentary hysteria, Eugene glanced around the room for what could have possibly put her into such hysterics. The room was just as large and impersonal as his own, except the accents were also done in a pale rose. A rose color that was only a few shades lighter than the dress thrown over the edge of the bed on the far side of the room and the slippers he saw discarded in separate corners, where he would bet anything she had thrown them. Glancing down he saw the familiar purple dress she wore and her bare feet. When her sobs began to soften, Eugene ventured to speak.

"Is it the shoes?" he asked, "because if you want to borrow my boots all you had to do was ask."

A wet laugh greeted his ears as he carefully drew back, just enough to see her face. Blinking back her tears, Rapunzel looked up at him, not loosening her arms from around his waist. She hadn't been able to sleep in the bed or eat or do anything. She had just been up all night, half expecting Mother Gothel to come running through the doors and half hoping that Eugene would instead. But neither of those things had happened and sometime in the night the dress and slippers had been sent up so that she could meet her parents in the morning dressed in something other than the well worn purple dress she was currently clad in.

But the dress had buttons that went all up the spine and the slippers had felt strange on her feet and before she had really known what she was doing she had torn off the dress and thrown the slippers as far to the corners of the room as she could. If she could not even get dressed in Princess clothing, how was she supposed to be a Princess at all? When she had opened her window to get some air, she had realized that for all her adventures and dreams and everything that had happened she had wound up right where she started.

"It's no use!" she said looking up at Eugene, "shoes hurt my feet, I can't reach the buttons on my dress and now instead of being off and exploring the world I'm stuck in another tower!" she confessed, "Only this time I've really got no way to get down!"

Eugene looked at her and for a moment Rapunzel was certain the thief was going to laugh at her for being so ridiculous. Even to her own ears she sounded silly but that wasn't enough to stop the tears once they started coming. She knew it was more than that. That it wasn't really a dress not buttoning or a slipper not fitting. That it was something more. But what that was, she had no idea.

"Hey, hey listen," Eugene said, his eyes flashing, "you're not stuck anywhere anymore, alright? If you want to leave all you have to do is go to the door and walk out."

Rapunzel looked at him, seeing the same passion in his eyes that she had when he had sliced off her hair to set her free. Right after she had been so certain that he had betrayed her and taken off with the jewels. Drawing back further, Rapunzel looked down at the ground between her bare feet before she looked back up at him.

"Did you really leave?" she asked softly.

Eugene looked at her, hating that she even had to ask such a thing. But it was a fair question. Especially given that her witch of a caretaker had taken the time to make it look as if he was the one steering the boat and probably told her he had just taken off once he got the jewels. That had, after all, been his whole reason for agreeing to take her to the lanterns in the first place. Slowly he shook his head.

"No," he said, "I went to give the crown to my, ah, partners in crime, and I was knocked unconscious and tied to the boat so it would look like I was taking off-" his words were cut off again when she hugged him tightly.

"Oh Eugene I'm so sorry!" she said burying her face once more in his chest, "I thought you had run away like Gothel said you had!"

"It was a fair assumption to make," he said, his arms coming around her, "I stole the crown remember?"

"But if you were tied up, how'd you get free?" she asked.

"Max got our friends from the Snugly Duckling to come and help in the rescue," Eugene admitted, "and then, well, you know the rest."

"Oh," Rapunzel looked up at him, "your chest feels alright, right?" she asked, her eyes anxious, "I've never healed anything like that-and not with my tears-and you're not in pain are you?"

"No, I'm fine," Eugene assured her, "not a scratch on me."

"You're sure?"

"Very."

"Do you have a scar?"

"No."

"What do you think of my hair?"

"I-what?" Eugene looked at her, realizing what question she had just asked.

"I've never had short hair before," Rapunzel said tilting her head to the side, "but I've never had people who told me how my hair looked either," she added, "and you're the only one whose seen me with both long and short hair," she looked at him, "what do you think of it?"

Eugene looked down at her and the cap of short hair she now sported.

"I like it," he said.

Rapunzel looked up at him, her eyes moving over his face as it to discern whether or not he was lying. Her eyes took in the gold light on his cheek and her eyes left his face, looking out the window as the sun began to paint the city below gold. Feeling dazed, Rapunzel withdrew from his arms and walked over to the window, leaning on the desk as she looked out at the stone of the city. Her tower had been shaded by mountains and looked out on grass. But here the stone buildings rose high, the sun painting them gold as they spread out below her window.

"It really is beautiful," Rapunzel said, looking out at the view.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Eugene step forward to stand beside her, but no sarcastic comments fell from his lips. Rapunzel looked away from the window and back at him, her eyes meeting his. He had been doing that more often now, those moments when he would fall silent and he would just _look_ at her and it felt as if he could see right into her very soul. And for the life of her Rapunzel knew she could not look away. Not when he looked at her like that.

"My parent's are going to want me to come down for breakfast," she said softly.

"Right," Eugene said, tearing his eyes from her, "well I'll leave you to it," he turned around.

"Wait," Rapunzel's soft voice stopped him, "can you stay? Please?" he turned his head, his hazel eyes locking with her jade green ones, "I just-"

"Okay," he cut in.

Rapunzel beamed, crossing over to the room quickly and grabbing the pink dress before looking around at the spacious room.

"Over there," Eugene said, nodding to the section hidden by a screen.

Rapunzel walked behind the screen and began to undo the laces of her dress, pulling off the fabric. The purple dress was well worn and well loved-as were all of her clothes. But it wasn't as if she had ever had a reason to be dressed elegantly. Not when she had lived her entire life up in the tower. Dropping the dress, Rapunzel stepped into the rose colored one. Unlike her purple dress this fell past her ankles clear to the ground. All of her dresses had always laced up the front. It was easier that way and the idea of getting her hair caught in fastening's wasn't an appealing one.

Reaching down Rapunzel began to do up the buttons, though it took a little work for her fingers to fix them.

"So," Eugene said from the other side of the screen, "got any decoration plans for this place?"

"What do you mean?" Rapunzel asked, biting her lip as she struggled to fit the buttons in their proper holes.

"Well I mean your tower had all those paintings on the walls," Eugene explained.

"You-you saw my paintings?" Rapunzel asked, her fingers pausing on the buttons of her dress.

"Well during my brief bouts of consciousness between whacks with your frying pan," he explained.

Rapunzel smiled even as she felt heat on her cheeks at the idea that Eugene had seen her artwork.

"I think I'm going to ask the King and Queen to give me a room closer to the ground," she said, "even if the view's nice up here, I'd like to be closer to the ground," she bit her lip, "do you think they'll mind?"

"I don't know," Eugene said, his voice taking on an odd note before he cleared it.

Rapunzel looked over at the screen before kicking herself. Of course Eugene wouldn't have any idea. He had grown up as an orphan. She kept forgetting that. That and the fact that they had met because he had stolen something and needed a place to hide. Even though really he had just given her crown back to her.

"I don't know either," Rapunzel said doing up the final button, "I hope they'll say yes though. I really have had enough with being high off the ground."

"Well at least you're not afraid of heights," Eugene offered.

Rapunzel smiled as she fitted the last button into its hole. The dress was tighter than her other one, wrapping snugly around her bodice and for a moment Gothel's comments about her weight echoed in her ears. For a moment she wanted to pick up her old purple dress, throw that on and run and run and run until the palace was nothing more than a distant memory.

"You okay in there?" Eugene's voice called to her cautiously.

Rapunzel looked at the white screen that separated the dressing area from the rest of the room, swallowing against the tightness in her throat. She was scared out of her wits and a big part o her wanted nothing more than to turn and run all the way back to her tower. Back to where things made some kind of sense. Gothel had always said the world was a terrible place, that she was not suited for it at all.

But she had also said Eugene betrayed her.

And she had been wrong about that.

Bending down to her rumpled old dress, Rapunzel plucked the square of darker purple fabric from the folds of the dress where she had hidden it. She had done so many impossible things over the past few days. Maybe, just maybe, she could do a few more? Folding the purple flag that was already showing signs of wear, Rapunzel tucked it into her sleeve before she turned to the opening of the dressing screen and forcing herself to walk around the side, fighting the urge to finger her shorn hair.

"I don't know if this looks alright," Rapunzel began hesitantly, her eyes on the ground, "I've always made my own clothes," she added as if it was an explanation.

Eugene turned around as she walked around the screen but when she appeared it was suddenly difficult to think properly. The rose colored dress she wore spoke to the talent of the palace seamstress. Cut close to her chest, the skirt fanned out to the ground, moving gently when she did, the warm gold embroidery catching the light from the windows. Even with her bare feet and cropped hair, she looked every inch a Princess.

"I look silly," Rapunzel said, dismay naked on her face.

"No," Eugene said quickly, "no, you look-" he tried to think of an adjective and failed, "you look like a Princess."

"Is that a good thing?" Rapunzel asked, trying to figure it out from his shocked face.

Eugene looked at her, still completely at a loss for what he should tell her. Suddenly it seemed as if he had ever given a compliment in his entire life, or as if every compliment he had given had been hollow. He had seen women who were more beautiful than the one in front of him but none had managed to render him as speechless as he felt at the moment. Her bright green eyes seemed to search his face, as if she did not know that being a Princess and striking a man dumb were good things.

"Yeah, uh," Eugene coughed and held up the slippers, "you need these."

"But you can't even see my feet," Rapunzel protested looking at the hem of her dress.

"Yes but this is a big palace and these floors are marble and your feet are going to get cold," Eugene explained, thankful to be back on familiar territory with the Princess.

Rapunzel looked from him to the rose colored slippers he held. They did not look thick enough to protect anything, much less her feet. But she had never worn shoes before. Moving her eyes from the slippers to the young man holding them, Rapunzel's eyes went back and forth several times as if by looking back and forth she could make them disappear or change, or do something other than just dangle there forebodingly.

"Okay sit down," Eugene said.

"Sit?" Rapunzel looked at him.

"Sit," he confirmed, walking over and picking up a chair before setting it down next to her. Cautiously Rapunzel sat, "foot out," Eugene said kneeling down. Rapunzel stuck her foot out, "point your toes," Eugene continued and Rapunzel did.

She watched with interest as he expertly stuck his thumbs into the opening of the slipper and before fitting the fabric over her toes. One of his hands grasped her heel gently while the other stretched the shoe along the length of her foot before guiding her heel into it as well. Rapunzel looked down at her slipper clad foot before looking back at Eugene.

"Better?" he asked.

"How did you know how to do that?" she asked him, moving her toes in a circle and feeling the leather move against her foot.

"Other foot," Eugene said and Rapunzel stuck her foot out, pointing her toes, "I was the oldest kid in the orphanage. You'd be amazed at what I can do," he told her, though while his tone remained light Rapunzel could hear a note of something else in his voice as he fitted her other shoes onto her foot.

"I already am," Rapunzel admitted as he finished fitting her slipper onto her foot.

Eugene looked up at her, his eyes catching hers. Rapuznel looked down at him, praying that he wasn't going to look away. A few days and she already knew he disliked talking about his backstory, that he withdrew the first few times it had been brought up. But she didn't see anything shameful about it. Being an orphan was a lot better than being locked in a tower by a woman she had believed was her mother. This time, however, Eugene did not look away. He looked at her in that way of his, his eyes holding hers and Rapunzel wondered if he was going to kiss her again.

"Your Highness?" a knock on the door stopped them, drawing their eyes to the ornate chair wedged underneath the handles.

Rapunzel looked at Eugene before turning back to the door.

"Yes?" she called, fighting not to have her voice tremble or sound uncertain.

"Their Majesties request your presence," the voice said.

Rapunzel looked back at him, fear churning in her stomach as she pushed herself to her feet. Impulsively she reached out and grabbed his hand, threading her fingers through his. It was on Eugene's lips to tell her that greeting whoever was at the door clutching his hand was not the way to go about kicking off her first day as a Princess, but the feeling of her hand so tightly in his stopped the words in the back of his throat. Rapunzel pulled him to the door before taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. Quickly Eugene pulled the chair away from the door one-handed before looking at her.

"You ready?" he asked.

Rapunzel looked over at him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the open window. She could see the sky and she knew below that was the kingdom and beyond that the world. All she had to do was run. But Eugene's hand was warm and firm in hers and in spite of the desire to flee, with his hand in hers Rapunzel felt an odd sense of bravery fall over her. The smile she gave him was forced and edged in fear but it was a smile none the less.

"Yes," she said.

Keeping her hand in his, Rapunzel reached out and opened the door.

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**Next time the day continues! Can Rapunzel make it through her first official day as a Princess? Can she do it without her magical hair? **

**Reviews are love! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay it would seem I am the only one who loved Rapunzel's ending haircut. Then again her haircut at the end was, essentially, my haircut. Except, of course, I don't do it with a shard of mirror. But yay for having brunette princesses with short haircuts! **

**Come on the brunette Princesses are awesome. They save their Princes! They're literate! Look at Belle and Rapunzel! **

**Oh and Zachary Levi is awesome. I'm a huge fan of Chuck and I love how he's all nerdy and cute. **

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The most incredible thing about the palace, Rapunzel decided was the number of people who seemed to live in it.

Well maybe not live, but certainly spend a lot of time.

There were so many of them that it made her head spin to think how big the palace had to be to accommodate all of them. There were women in perfectly pressed, neat uniforms who swept and dusted and polished. There were men who stood in brightly shining uniforms, their backs so straight it made her own shoulders ache just thinking about holding them in such a position for so long. Strangely everyone seemed to bow or curtsey to her as well but for the life of her Rapunzel had no idea how to respond to such a gesture.

"This place is huge!" Rapunzel whispered to Eugene, afraid to raise her voice higher than a whisper since everything seemed so much louder here, "no wonder you wanted one."

"Hi there," Eugene said to a guard who gave him a dirty look, "maybe we should keep the whole 'thief' thing quiet,"

"How come?" Rapunzel asked looking over at him before seeing the dirty look from the guard, "oh, oh right. You robbed _this_ palace."

"Something like that," Eugene said

"But if you think about it you really were just giving me back my crown, so its not that bad," the Princess said matter-of-factly.

"I don't think they see it that way," Eugene said looking back at the guard who followed him with hawk eyes, as if he expected him to steal something right then and there.

"But if they know then why do I have to keep it quiet?" Rapunzel asked, confused at his logic, "I mean if everyone knows-"

"Yes but lets have them focus on the fact that I gave you a ride back to the palace," he said, "you know, the whole return-the-lost-princess-thing, not the steal-the-crown-jewels-of-said-lost-princess."

"Oh okay," Rapunzel said, taking his word for it, "he brought me back!" she called over to the guard who was glaring at Eugene. The guard's eyes widened before he straightened up and looked at the wall, "there," Rapunzel said as if it took care of the problem.

Eugene looked at her, torn between slamming his face into palm and laughing outright at her innocence. But Rapunzel looked back at him with her bright green eyes and even brighter smile and the desire to do either evaporated as he returned the gesture, helpless to refuse her. The women leading them down the hallway stopped at a pair of doors and turned, curtseying to Rapunzel who looked helpless at what to do in response.

"Thank you," she said finally as two people on the other side pushed open the doors.

The room was sun drenched and beautiful, with a small table set for four. By the windows the King and Queen were speaking quietly but the moment the doors opened they turned to look at the two of them. At the sight of her parents, Rapunzel's fingers tightened around Eugene's.

Though Eugene may not have understood parents, the look in the King and Queen's eyes at the sight of their daughter was one he understood all too well. However they must have seen that Rapunzel was all but terrified of them and with surprising speed the two of them tucked their emotion away and looked at Rapunzel with far more gentle smiles.

"Hello," Rapunzel said softly, her fingers tightening on Eugene's hand.

"Good morning," the Queen said, her voice soft, "how did you sleep?"

"I didn't," Rapunzel replied honestly, "I don't think I sleep well in new places. Well except for when I slept with Eugene."

Eugene looked at the King and Queen who immediately looked at him. Rapunzel looked between the three of them, unsure of why it seemed strange that she had slept with Eugene. They had been outside, but they had been together. Should they have slept somewhere else? However nice the Snuggly Duckling had seemed there hadn't been beds in there. Though Rapunzel thought that maybe they could have slept on the the tables. She made a mental note for the next time she and Eugene went off on an adventure that they would have to sleep in doors and separate places.

"We were traveling to the festival," he explained quickly before Rapunzel could dig them a bigger hole for them, "we were outside," he added quickly.

"I see," the Queen said, though from the confusion in her eyes Eugene would bet every penny he'd ever stolen that the woman hadn't slept a night outside in her entire life.

"Shall we eat?" the King suggested, artfully changing the subject.

"I'm starving," Rapunzel said as they walked over to the table, "where's the kitchen?"

"The kitchen?" the King looked at his daughter.

"Well if we want breakfast we have to cook it, don't we?" Rapunzel asked looking between her parents.

They looked at her, confusion in their eyes and suddenly she wished desperately that she had Eugene's hand to hold. Didn't they cook breakfast here? Gothel had only ever cooked dinner and even then it was only occasionally. She had always _always_ made breakfast, even back when breakfast was little more that a chunk of bread torn off by her chubby hands. What if she never got to cook again? Or worse, what if they thought she was strange for cooking?

A gentle hand touched her shoulder and Rapunzel looked over to see the woman with warm brown eyes who she should have known instinctively as mother look at her. For a moment she was certain that she was going to tell her no. Or that they didn't do that in the Kingdom and Rapunzel felt tears threaten her. She loved to cook. What if she never got to go near a stove again?

"It's this way," the Queen said with a gentle smile, "but I must warn you, it's been years since I cooked anything."

"Oh don't worry," Rapunzel said with a bright smile at the Queen, "I cook all the time. I'll show you how."

The Queen walked with her daughter but Rapunzel was quickly in the lead. Over her daughter's shoulder she flashed a helpless look at the King who grinned broadly at the sight of his wife and daughter heading towards the kitchen. Inside Eugene felt the knot in his chest tighten. He doubted Princess's were regulars in the kitchen. At least Rapunzel's parents were understanding. Eugene moved forward but the King held out a hand and stopped him.

Eugene looked at the pair of them but as they walked out Rapunzel seemed too engrossed in her mother to look afraid or glance back at him. In some way Eugene felt relief at that. He knew he could not stay by her side holding her hand forever, however tempting the idea might be. Unfortunately it was only after the women left that Eugene realized he was standing alone in a room with a man who had, a few days ago, authorized 'wanted' posters of him to be spread all over the Kingdom.

The two men stood there awkwardly. Eugene had never been in the presence of a King before and in spite of his confidence he wasn't entirely sure how to act around the man. The only consolation he had was the King did not seem to know how to act around a wanted thief turned Princess rescuer either. They had gone over the story of how he found her, how she blackmailed him-or 'convinced as they liked to call it-into taking her to see the lights and how they had been separated and then reunited and finally how she had figured out she was a Princess and had been painting the royal seal since she was a child on the walls of her tower.

Which only really left the fact that he was an orphan/theif/person-who-had-no-business-being-with-a-Princess. Which, if one thought about it, was an incredibly awkward topic of conversation between two people who didn't really know each other yet.

"Shall we sit?" the King offered finally, "I believe we are allowed to have tea before my wife and daughter return with food."

They sat and silence came over them again until the King spoke.

"My daughter calls you Eugene," he said, "is that your real name?"

"Yes," Eugene said finally, still hating the sound of it, "Eugene Fitzherbert, actually."

"I see," the King said, "when Rapunzel was a child," he continued, "before that witch got her hands on her, I read her the tales of Flynnigan Ryder every night before she went to bed."

Eugene very nearly dropped the tea cup he was holding.

"You did?" Eugene asked, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

The King nodded, looking down at his tea cup before looking back at Eugene.

"I wanted my daughter to grow up strong, to see the world, to have the kind of adventures that I did as a child," Eugene looked at him, still too shocked to speak, "and now it seems thanks to you that she will be able to do all that her mother and I hoped for her," he looked at him, "you have yet to speak of a reward for her return."

It was a fair assumption to make, that he would want a reward. And yet the idea that he'd get something in return for Rapunzel dragging him back to the Kingdom was completely ludicrous. Still it was a reminder that compared to these people he was a thief and a commoner with no family lineage to speak of. After all, it wasn't like he was the long lost prince of some far away Kingdom. But a few days ago, Rapunzel had been nothing more than a girl in a tower and yet she had faced the changed with the same bright determination she had shown to him that first day they met. Trying to muster some of that, Eugene looked at the King.

"That's really not necessary," Eugene said, "unless you consider not hanging me to be a reward," he added quickly, "because in that case-"

"I do not hang people who perform great deeds in the service of this Kingdom," the King said, as if the idea of punishing him was somehow offensive, "and your aide in the safe return of my daughter is reason enough for me not to hang you."

"Well that is a weight off my shoulders," Eugene said, "or from around my neck."

"We made breakfast!" Rapunzel cried coming into the room with plates balanced on her arms and head.

"Rapunzel made breakfast," the Queen said with a smile, carefully setting down the plates she carried, "I cannot say I was much help at all."

"Of course you were," Rapunzel said setting down a plate in front of Eugene and her mother before sitting down, "and you can help me with lunch," she said to the King, "and you can make dinner with me!"

"Rapunzel," the Queen said gently, "the palace chef has been hard at work preparing the dinner menu for you. Perhaps we should let him show you how he cooks?"

Rapunzel looked at the Queen before nodding.

"Alright. But I've never had anyone else cook lunch or breakfast for me," Rapunzel added picking up her fork, "does everyone else cook your meals?" she asked, her eyes going back and forth between her parents.

"Mostly," the Queen said, "but I'm certain they would love to have you work with them in the kitchen."

Rapunzel's eyes lit up with delight at the suggestion, her joy so great that she dropped her fork and leaned forward.

"Cooking _with_ other people?" she gasped, "really? Would they let me?"

"Of course," the Queen said, "and you seem to have done an excellent job," she continued, "if your father's sudden lack of table manner's is any indication," she added.

Sure enough the King and Eugene were both plowing through the food, obviously too intent on eating to notice the moment between mother and daughter. Both men paused,each looking at the woman closest to them. The Queen arched an eyebrow at her husband, obviously disliking his lack of manners but Rapunzel beamed at Eugene.

"Do you like it?" she asked before turning to the King, "do you? I've never cooked for other people before," she bit her lip, "if you don't its okay-"

"No no no, it's the best breakfast ever," he said flashing her a grin.

Rapunzel grinned at the joke before looking at her father.

"I think you should go and teach the palace chef's how to cook," he said with a smile.

Rapunzel's eyes went to her mother who tasted the food with far more delicacy than either her husband or Eugene had shown before smiling at Rapunzel.

"It's wonderful," she said.

"Oh good!" Rapunzel picked up her fork and dug in as well, her manners far closer to that of Eugene and her father than the delicate flex of her mother's wrist. They ate in silence for a bit before Rapunzel set down her fork and looked at the three of them, "so what are we doing today?" she asked brightly.

"Is there anything particular you would like to do?" the Queen asked.

"To be outside," Rapunzel said, "unless you need me inside of course and then I'll stay-" she added with a rush.

"No," the King said trading a look with his wife, "if you would like to go outside, I'm certain Eugene here will be a fine escort."

"Great!" Rapunzel looked at Eugene, "we'll be back for lunch. Come on!" she tugged him upwards, "lets go!"

"Okay okay," Eugene said staggering up to his feet.

"We'll be back in time for lunch!" Rapunzel called over her shoulder as she yanked Eugene out of the room and down the hallway.

Rapunzel tugged him down the marble corridors with surprising strength and speed. Eugene looked back at the closed doors where the King and Queen were probably sitting wondering what on earth had just happened. Rapunzel, however, did not seem to think that she should spend the day with her parents. Though, Eugene acknowledged, if he'd spent every day in a tower for eighteen years he'd probably want to spend as much time outside as he possibly could. In spite of him getting lost, Rapunzel seemed to have absolutely no problem finding her way around the palace, or at least finding her way out of it. She pulled him clear out onto the courtyard before she released his wrist and looked around at the sun drenched palace.

"So do we walk or should we get a horse," she asked turning to Eugene.

"I don't know Blondie," he said looking down at the nearby village, "that looks like a pretty far walk to me."

"Really?" Rapunzel looked over the edge and down at the road, "it seems close to me. Oh and you can't call me that anymore."

"Call you what?" Eugene asked.

"Blondie," Rapunzel said, "you can't call me Blondie anymore," she lifted up a lock of her hair, "I'm not blonde," she said.

"Right, sorry," Eugene said.

"Its okay," Rapunzel said, "you'll just have to think up a new nickname for me now. Oh look!" she cried pointing at something, "lets go down there first!"

She seized his wrist with one hand, picked up the edge of her rose colored skirt with her other and ran off towards the village, dragging her so-called escort behind her. Rapunzel looked around as the road sloped downwards and the buildings rose upwards until they were certainly in the village once again. Dropping Eugene's wrist, Rapunzel turned around. It was morning but so much was going on she didn't know where to look first. She had thought there were a lot of people in the palace but that was nothing compared to the number of people down in the village below. She had seen them before at the celebration but even when there wasn't reason to celebrate they all seemed to be out going about their daily lives.

"So where do you want to go first?" Eugene asked.

"Anywhere," Rapunzel said, "everywhere," she added with a laugh, "I don't know, I don't care!" she threw her arms out, motioning to the world around them before turning to Eugene, "where should we go?"

"Well we've got a book store and a bakery and a-" he trailed off at her silence.

"Eugene?" Eugene looked at her, "'outside' remember?" she said helpfully.

"Oh right," he said, "okay, outside it is. Lets explore the city then."

"Just walk around?" she asked looking at him, "we can do that?"

"Yes, Bl-Rapunzel, we can do that," Eugene said, "come on, I'll show you the rest of the capital."

Rapunzel nodded enthusiastically and followed him down the winding path road. Maybe it was the lack of hair of the change in color or perhaps the absence of a crown, but no-one seemed to notice that Rapunzel was their fabled lost Princess, something for which Eugene was profoundly grateful. They wandered around the village, Rapunzel stopping every few feet to marvel at the flowers that grew outside of someone's window or the mosaic's of her and her parents set into the wall. Eugene followed her, content to watch as she spun around in delight, looking at everything that had never seemed quite so marvelous to him.

Then again, when he had come through this place he'd usually been running from the law.

Eugene frowned when he realized that Rapunzel had stopped in one place and was no longer moving from it. Instead she was standing there, her hands by her side, but her eyes were no longer wide and delight no longer shown on her features. Eugene came to stand beside her, following her gaze with his eyes. She was standing in front of a small shop, with a display of paints in the window. He raised an eyebrow before looking at her again. Her green eyes were not on all the paints, they were solely on a pot of one of them and for the first time since they left her tower it looked as if she was moments from tears.

"Did you wear yourself out already?" he asked, trying to bring some light to the situation.

"I asked for that for my birthday," Rapunzel said, her voice slow before coming out faster, "I told her that I wanted the white paint that you can only make from this certain type of shell that's a three day walk from the tower on a beach. I only told her that because I locked you in my closet and she said that I couldn't go see the lights but-" she stopped and looked at him desperately, confusion in her eyes before she looked away.

"Hey, come on," Eugene pulled her from the paint shop over to a bench nearby where Rapunzel sat heavily down, suddenly not sure her legs would be able to support her.

Moments ago she had been so thrilled at what was going on that she had barely given any thought to Gothel. She had reached for her when she was falling out of the tower, but Eugene had been laying there turning paler with each frantic pound of her heart and she could not move from his side. Even after he had betrayed her. Fingering a lock of her hair, Rapunzel looked hard at the ground by her feet, her eyes focusing on the tips of Eugene's well worn boots as they got more and more out of focus as she felt tears fill her eyes.

"I really thought that she loved me," Rapunzel confessed finally, her voice broken, "how could I have been so stupid?" she whispered brokenly, burying her face in her hands as her tears broke free.

She felt Eugene come up and wrap his arms around her, pulling her against his chest as easily as if he had been comforting her for years. Rapunzel tried to reign in her tears but they were coming too fast. She hated crying, she always had. and now she was beginning to think that she hated crying in front of other people more. But Eugene didn't tease her or laugh or anything that she thought he would. He just hugged her, letting her sob all over his new shirt. The thought that moments ago she had been so happy and now she was utterly miserable only made her weep with renewed force, her body turning towards his as she sought comfort for her tears.

As she sobbed she realized that one of his hands was moving in slow circles along her back. It felt oddly comforting, not only to have a shoulder to cry on but to have him doing that as well. The thought that he even knew how to comfort a sobbing person because he had been the oldest kid at an orphanage was so tragic that it made her sob harder into his shirt.

"Everything's s-so wonderful but I-" she took a huge gulp of air, "I can't stop crying!" she sobbed harder, "b-but I n-never had anything to cry about before o-or someone to hug me a-and even that's-" her breath hitched, "that's wonderful t-t-too!"

This time she felt Eugene's chest rumble as he laughed, but his hand continued to rub her back and his other arm continued to hold her close against him and she knew he wasn't making fun of her. Adorable, sweet Eugene who knew how to comfort a hysterical girl who up until a day ago hadn't cried in years. Even when she had stopped sobbing she remained against his chest, reluctant to pull away from him as her tears continued to fall, albiet at a much slower rate.

"I don't know why I keep crying," she admitted softly.

"Remember when you first left the tower?" he asked, his chest rumbling against her cheek, "you cried then too," he pointed out.

"But that was the first time I'd ever been out," she said looking up at him.

"Well yesterday you thought you were going to be in there forever again remember?"

Rapunzel looked up at him, remembering all too clearly what had happened yesterday when she had been in the tower. How he had been laying there, bleeding out and still desperately trying to save her from having to be with Gothel for the rest of her life. He remembered that she always kept her promises and she had promised Gothel she would stay with her when she ran. And he'd remembered that she always kept her promises.

"Sorry," she apologized messily, reaching up and rubbing the last of the tears from her cheeks, "I don't mean to keep breaking down like this."

"Hey, its fine," Eugene said, "I've got a whole shirt here for you to cry on."

Rapunzel felt a smile tug at her lips at the honesty in his face. Getting to her feet, she shook out the folds of her skirt before looking back at the paint shop. There was a man moving about the shop now, getting things ready for the day. He reached over to the sign in the window to turn it from Closed to Open and his eyes landed on Rapunzel. Much to her surprise he smiled brightly at her and waved, turning the sign to show that the shop was open. Raising a hand, Rapunzel waved back to him.

"You want to go and get paint?" Eugene offered.

"I-" Rapunzel turned and looked at him, "I don't know," she looked down at her feet, "all my paints were back at the tower."

"Come on then," he said taking her hand walking her into the shop, "after all," he reasoned, "you've got all that wall space now. Maybe we should see about getting you a ladder too and-" he trailed off as he felt Rapunzel come to a dead stop, "Rapunzel?" he turned his head, half sure she was going to be in tears again.

Rapunzel's face, however, was one of pure, shocked delight. He realized that she had never been in a paint shop before and in their whirlwind day in the capital they had visited a book store and a bakery but she had wanted to stay outside. They hadn't come to a place like this. Eugene looked back at the shop and then back at the Princess, just in time to see her shake off her stupor and run forward, her eyes moving over the dizzying array of colors before she turned back to him.

"Look at all of these colors Eugene!"

**

* * *

**

The sun was high in the sky by the time Eugene and Rapunzel returned to the palace.

The shopkeeper had been kind enough to allow them to leave the paint there while they went exploring the city but by the time they made it back to the palace, Eugene's arms were aching with the weight of the colors Rapunzel had picked out. Rapunzel held onto the paint brushes and the smock but Eugene had gathered up the heavy stuff before she could carry it, knowing that it would never do for her to show up at the palace holding all the heavy stuff. Even the small things she held in her arms were met with barely veiled surprise by the servants and guards.

"Your highness!" a servant came forward, "may I take those to your room for you?"

"I can do it-" Rapunzel began.

"I think your parents probably want to see you," Eugene pointed out.

"Oh, you're right," Rapunzel said, "alright," she agreed handing over the packages as Eugene gave the others to another servant, "thank you!" Rapunzel called after them.

"Your Highness, Master Eugene," a second servant appeared before them, "their Majesties request your presence in the gardens. If you will follow me."

Eugene walked with Rapunzel, trying not to wince at the sound of his real name on the man's lips. He still wasn't used to it and he certainly wasn't used to being called it by people who were not the lady who ran the orphanage or the younger kids who butchered the pronunciation as their baby teeth fell out. At least something like Master Flynn would sound, well, cool. Eugene, Master or no, just sounded silly. In fact the only time he didn't mind someone calling him Eugene was when she said it.

Eugene glanced to the side as Rapunzel looked around the hallway with interest as the man in front of them led them towards the gardens. Her green eyes were bright and the excitement in them completely overshadowed the faint red from her earlier tears. The hallway they walked through was open, allowing the warm breeze to blow through. As they got closer to the gardens the bricks gave way to intricate iron work, thick vines of roses giving shade.

"Isn't it beautiful, Eugene?" Rapunzel said looking intently at the bright pink flowers.

"Yeah," Eugene agreed, his eyes on her, "it is."

"Oh look there they are!" Rapunzel perked up waving to the two figures sitting underneath an open tent overlaid with white fabric to offer shade. The King and Queen returned the wave as they approached and stepped underneath the tent. The Queen and King stood to greet them, relief on both of their faces though Eugene was certain they had not been gone more than a few hours, "hi," Rapunzel said with a smile.

"Hello," the Queen said, "did you enjoy the capital?"

"Oh yes!" Rapunzel said enthusiastically, "its so big though we didn't get to go everywhere this time either."

"And this is just one city in the empire," the Queen said.

"i know! There are so many places to go and see," she smiled with unabashed delight, "when I was here for the festival we went to a book store and looked at the atlas in there. This Kingdom is huge!"

"Did you see the river system?" the King inquired. Rapunzel nodded, "the best way to see the Kingdom is by one of the shallow boats. How long did it take us to go through the Kingdom?"

"A month," the Queen replied before looking at Rapunzel, "have you been on a boat before?" she asked.

"Once," Rapunzel said, her eyes softening, "when Eugene took me to see the Lanterns."

"The view must have been wonderful," the Queen said, "it's breathtaking from up here."

"Yes," Rapunzel said, "it was really beautiful," she added glancing back at Eugene.

Their eyes held for a moment at the memory of all the lights that had floated above them as they sat in the boat, both finding that realizing one dream wasn't nearly as wonderful as finding a new one, and someone to share it with. Even what happened later couldn't seem to dampen the memory of the boat ride and the million lanterns floating above their heads. Rapunzel's smile widened even further and a giggle escaped her lips.

"I just realized, _I_ sent up a lantern too," she said, "even though I wasn't really lost anymore."

"Well when we first sent up the lanterns they were in celebration of your birthday," the Queen said gently, "and you were with us the first time we sent up the lanterns."

Rapunzel smiled warmly at her mother and Eugene leaned against the support of the tent, more than content to watch the family have their little reunion. With her hair the color of chocolate, Rapunzel looked unmistakably like the two people standing next to her. It was oddly sweet to watch, even though somewhere deep deep inside Eugene wondered what it was like to feel that way. But he firmly pushed the glimmer of a feeling aside. This was Rapunzel's reunio-

"Gah!" Eugene jumped as something wet invaded his ear before he turned to glare at the chameleon on his shoulder, "is that really necessary?" he demanded as the chameleon gave a satisfied smirk.

"Hi Pascal," Rapunzel said coming over and sticking out her hand for the chameleon to scamper onto and up her arm to his spot on her shoulder, "did you have fun exploring the palace?" she asked as Eugene rubbed his ear, "it took you a while! Did you go everywhere?" the chameleon nodded enthusiastically, "oh good, now we don't have to get lost," Rapunzel said. Pascal looked at her and made a sound before glaring at Eugene and making another, "oh no," Rapunzel said, "Eugene took great care of me."

Pascal made another sound before looking down at her dress and then back at her, his green hugh taking on the rosy shade of her dress and settling there happily. Rapunzel turned to look at her parents. While they had seen Pascal, neither of them seemed to know what to make of the chameleon perched on her shoulder.

"Oh Pascal you should have seen the paint shop we went to," she said, "there were so many colors! I could paint a proper sunset or the clouds like they should be or even you changing into all those different colors!" she told her friend excitedly.

"A paint shop?" the King asked.

"Yeah," Eugene said, "she likes to paint. A lot," he added.

"Painting, cooking, blackmailing" the King stroked his beard thoughtfully, "is there anything my daughter cannot do?"

Eugene looked over at Rapunzel who was talking excitedly to Pascal while the Queen stood nearby, looking confused but not outright horrified at the fact that her daughter's best friend was a chameleon. A few hours ago she had been intent on climbing down the side of a tower and not wearing shoes ad now she was standing next to the Queen looking every inch Rapunzel and every inch a royal Princess. Eugene felt his smile soften as he looked at her.

"No sir, I don't think there is," he said.

Both men watched as Rapunzel took her mother's hand and Pascal scampered up it, running clear up the Queen's arm to settle on her head behind the crown she wore. The Queen's gentle laugh echoed around the gardens as she looked helplessly up at the chameleon who turned the warm brown of her hair with ease and seemed to settle right at home on her head.

"He likes you," Rapunzel said happily.

"Just don't let him near your ear," Eugene advised.

"Oh don't be silly," Rapunzel said, "he only does that to you."

"Lucky me," Eugene deadpanned.

"At least Max lets you ride him now," Rapunzel pointed out before her face turned thoughtful, "Eugene we haven't seen Maximus since yesterday," she said suddenly looking at him.

"Maximus?" the King said, "he's been out all morning with the rest of the royal guard."

"Doing what?" Rapunzel asked.

"Removing the wanted posters of Flynn Ryder," the King said, "its not as if I'm going to have Eugene here thrown in jail," he added clapping Eugene on the back.

Rapunzel grinned widely though she already knew her parents would pardon him. After all, he did help bring her home where she belonged. But even if she did have to go and rescue him, Rapunzel knew it would be far easier to do now that she had been out in the world once.

"Well that's good," she said, "I think Eugene and I have done enough rescuing for a while."

"I whole heartedly agree with that," Eugene said, "rescuing, healing-knocking out with frying pans. All of that. Done. Over with."

"Which is really too bad," Rapunzel said, "because now that my hair's like this the rescuing and healing and frying pan knocking out would be much _much_ easier."

"But what's life without a challenge huh?"

"Rapunzel," the Queen broke in gently, "how long _was_ your hair?"

Rapunzel looked at her mother before looking back at Eugene who looked back at her blankly. She opened her mouth and then closed it, thinking back to the hair that had kept her in the tower for all of her life. She could still practically feel the weight and inconvenience of the hair that she thought the entire world would be after. Even if it had been inconvenient and the magic hadn't actually been just in her hair after all, the memory of what she had carried around for her whole life made her throat tighten.

Rapunzel forced the desire to cry back.

She was not going to break down again, especially not when her parents were there. They looked so worried and anxious and maybe even like they were going to cry too. Though Rapunzel wasn't entirely certain. She had never seen another person cry before. But she forced the desire back, even as Pascal jumped from her mother to land on her shoulder and nestle against her neck in his own show of comfort.

"I'm not sure," she said finally, "but it was really long. I could reach the ground from my tower. Right Eugene?"

"Yeah," he agreed, though his hazel eyes looked troubled.

Rapunzel looked away as Pascal jumped off her shoulder and darted back across the garden before stopping at ways off and stretching out his arms, one pointing at her and one on the other side.

"That long," Rapunzel said motioning to where her friend stood.

Both her parents looked truly shocked at the distance and even she was surprised at how far Pascal was. She had known how long her hair had been, it had, of course, been attached to her head. But it wasn't until she had gone outside for the first time that she realized that having hair that long was anything but convenient. In fact in places like the capital it was horribly inconvenient, even when it was in the big thick braid she'd gotten.

"Oh and it was blonde," Rapunzel added, fingering a lock of her brown hair nervously, "but you already knew that."

The King and Queen looked at each other before looking back at their daughter. Rapunzel felt oddly bashful underneath their gaze. Gothel, after all, had gone through all the trouble to keep her in the tower, to keep her protected and hidden, all because of something that no longer really existed.

"But I can still heal I just-I have to cry," Rapunzel added quickly, "and sing the incantation. I can show you if you want-"

"Rapunzel," the Queen quickly laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder, silencing the young woman, "we're all fine," she said, "and I believe Eugene was right when he said that it should be a while before you need to heal anyone."

"But I did it almost every day with Mo-Gothel," Rapunzel said, quickly correcting the slip up, "since she wanted to be young-"

"Getting old isn't a bad thing," the Queen said gently, "now that your back, your father and I don't mind getting old."

Rapunzel looked between the two of them. They both looked older than Gothel had when she was healed but neither seemed to mind. Neither had brought up her healing powers after she had explained what happened the first night but a part of Rapunzel still found it impossible to believe that they wouldn't at least ask. The worst part was that she would have done it for them gladly. She would have cried and cried and cried until they were young again if they had asked her. But they didn't and as she looked at them both Rapunzel realized that they wouldn't.

"You don't?" Rapunzel asked, not daring to believe it.

With a gentle smile the Queen shook her head.

"Your father and I want what we always have," the Queen said, "we want you to be happy."

Whether it was the mention of the Queen and King being her parents or the fact that because they wanted her to be happy they had let her cook and run around the village and would probably let her paint the walls of her room, Rapunzel would never know. She just knew one moment she was looking at the woman who in the span of a heartbeat had told her everything she ever wanted to hear from her mother and the next she was hugging her as tightly as she could.

It wasn't until her mother's hand settled gently at the back of her neck, exposed by her shorn hair, that Rapunzel realized everyone hugged differently. Burying her face in the Queen's shoulder she reveled in the feeling of being hugged for so long by someone who didn't want anything in return. Or being hugged when she wasn't sobbing helplessly like she seemed to do with Eugene.

Drawing back she looked at her mother and smiled.

"I am."

* * *

**Okay so this is going to be a fourshot now because I had a very cute idea that I wanted to do. Oh and Max will be there. **

**Reviews are love!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay in the new chapter. I got *ahem* distracted off in smut-land writing about Eugene and Rapunzel doing some less than Disney things. **

**Anyhoo I'm thrilled to see I'm not alone in the adoration of Rapunzel's short hair! And aww for the general love of Rapunzel and Eugene. After what I made them do in my other piece I'm happy to get back to them being sweet here. **

* * *

However close Eugene and Max had gotten in their effort to save the Princess, there was no doubt that the horse had a clear preference when it came to the two of them.

No sooner had he trotted into the courtyard and seen her than the white steed had raced forward and greeted the Princess with enthusiasm rivaled only by her own. If Rapunzel's parents thought it was strange that their daughter ran over to the horse and threw her arms around his neck, it did not show on their faces. Not even as Rapunzel's fingers easily found the spot behind his ears that made the horse loudly whinny his approval. Rapunzel laughed merrily and continued to scratch the horse as Maximus continued to enjoy being lavished with so much attention.

"Did you get all the posters of him down?" she asked the horse who made a sound of confirmation as she scratched harder, "of course you did," she continued, "you always get the job done."

Maximus's head flew up at that, his eyes locking of Eugene as if to accuse him of standing in between him and completing his mission. Eugene raised a hand in a wave which was met with a familiar glare from the steed. Eugene sighed and shook his head, even with the rescuing and the riding and the returning of the lost Princess he got the feeling Max still viewed him as a thief.

"Oh him? Well you still brought him back the palace didn't you?" she said, drawing Maximus's eyes back to her, "so you see you even did that. Its not your fault the King and Queen decided to pardon him. And then they made you run around and take down all of his wanted posters."

Maximus seemed to like that judgement much better and leaned into Rapunzel's touch as she scratched him under his chin. Finally the horse let out a huff of contentment, nudged Rapunzel affectionately and made his way over to where Eugene was standing. Eugene looked at the horse as Maximus walked in a slow circle around the former thief, his eyes inspecting every inch of Eugene's new clothing before it came back to his face. The horse's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, tilting his head to the side as if trying to figure out some kind of confusing riddle.

"It's the nose isn't it?" Eugene said.

Maximus reared up, stomping his hooves on the ground, clearly having been frustrated the whole day by what the posters had gotten wrong.

"They always get it wrong," Eugene pointed out before Maximus's nose was suddenly against his, "got it wrong. Got it," he corrected himself, as the horse glared, "because I will not be doing anything to have a wanted poster up around the kingdom for me again."

Maximus held his eyes, as though trying to see if Eugene was lying and Eugene found himself desperately hoping that the horse would see gave a snort, seemingly satisfied at his answer before trotting back over to Rapunzel and lowering his head down so that she could continue to scratch him. The Princess laughed in delight and obliged the horse, scratching him behind his ears. Eugene looked over his shoulder to see the King and Queen trading bemused smiles. Though Eugene imagined that given what had happened the past two days seeing Rapunzel scratching a horse was probably the easiest thing to stomach.

"You're such a good boy!" Rapunzel commended the horse enthusiastically.

"Yes he is," the rubble of her father's voice agreed. Rapunzel looked over at him as Maximus followed suite. Instead of straightening up however for the King, the horse snorted and nudged forward, moving her father's robes aside. The King laughed at the horse's antics, sliding his hand over the horse's nose and pulling out a handful of small white cubes, "Maximus' sire is my prize war horse," the King explained at his daughter's confused but delighted expression.

"Really?" Rapunzel gasped.

"Yes," the King said, "here, hold out your hand," he instructed his daughter.

Rapunzel held out her hand and the King placed a few of the white cubes in it. Max leaned forward with far more care and took them from her, eliciting a delighted laugh from the Princess. Rapunzel reached forward and scratched at the spot behind his ear as he lipped her palm.

"is Maximus the first horse you've met?" the King asked his daughter.

"Yes," Rapunzel said, "I'd only read about them before," she looked at the King's face, "but I'd only read about men before too and Eugene turned out to be alright," Max snorted, "you're better than alright," Rapunzel said to the horse.

Eugene smiled and shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. He knew he should say something full of mock-outrage but the sight of Rapunzel standing with her father was enough to make him shut his mouth. Especially when she beamed back up at her father and the King gave a smile that Eugene was fairly certain he hadn't graced the King's face since his daughter had been taken.

At the feel of eyes on them, Eugene looked over his shoulders to see a few women standing nearby whispering to one another. Their jewel toned gowns were too fine for them to be commoners or maids and Eugene realized they were probably visiting royalty. That our the very rich looking to rub elbows with royalty in hopes of gaining a husband. Disgust filled him at their whispers and the slight giggled he could hear escaping their carefully painted lips.

Giggles he knew were directed at Rapunzel.

A light throat clearing from the Queen, however, was all it took for the 'ladies' to disperse. Eugene watched them depart before turning to Rapunzel's mother. He looked back over at the Queen who turned back to him and folded her arms with an unexpectedly devilish smile in his direction.

"I don't often say this to royalty but I'm impressed Your Majesty," Eugene said.

"She will, of course, need to learn how to act like a proper Princess," the Queen said looking back at her daughter and husband, "but there is time enough for that later."

"Yeah-"

"Time enough for you to learn to act like a Prince Consort as well," the Queen said.

Eugene choked on his own spit in shock. Coughing he turned around, smothering the sound with his hand so as not to interrupt the moment between Rapunzel and her father. He felt the Queen's hand on his back, patting it as he fought to clear his lungs. Swearing he turned to look at the monarch who, until a day go, would have been more than happy to see him hang.

"A _what_?" he demanded.

"Prince Consort," the Queen said. He looked at her blankly, "Rapunzel is our daughter. _She_ will be Queen regnant and you, as her husband, will be Prince Consort since you are not of royal blood."

Eugene was too stunned at her words to feel ashamed at the stab of blind panic that seized him at the term 'husband'. Eugene knew almost nothing of royalty but he seriously doubted that they got married within three days of meeting. Especially not when the pair in question consisted of a woman who had no idea how to act like a Princess and a man who had less claim to nobility than the horse he had ridden on. Not to mention that three days ago Eugene Fitzherbert would have laughed outright at the idea of even being in love, much less settling down with one woman for the rest of his life.

"Look, uh, Your Majesty," he began, "three days ago I didn't even know your daughter _existed_. And even if we, uh, you know," he motioned around vaguely before putting his hands on the banister, "isn't it a little early to be thinking about _that_?"

"No," the Queen said.

"No?" he repeated.

"No," she confirmed, "three days ago, as you so put it, you were a wanted criminal and while no-one can deny the heroism of your act the fact of the matter is that anyone else would have a lifetime of deportment lessons behind them by the time they even _considered_ taking my daughter's hand in marriage."

The panic only got worse at the words 'daughter' and 'marriage'. Marrying Rapunzel? It seemed like something impossible. Looking over at her as she carefully hugged Max, Eugene wondered if it was even possible to get her to be a 'proper' Princess. What would that _do_ to her? Would it change her past the point of, well, being her?

"This is a wealthy Kingdom, as you know," the Queen said, "even when Rapunzel was missing we had people attempting to forge alliances through the promise of marriage upon her return."

Eugene's eyes narrowed. There were _other_ men out there vying for Rapunzel's affections? Other princely men? Who had lifetimes of manners training and titles and bloodlines and God knew what else? Men who would know how to woo her in ways that did not involve being stabbed by an immortally young witch and bleeding out on a tower floor after almost being hung by the people who now were thinking about calling him son-in-law?

His throat tightened inexplicably as he watched as Rapunzel turned to her father with a bright smile that made her jade eyes shine. A lock of her shorn hair had fallen across her nose and she reached up, brushing it back with an easy flick of her wrist. Watching her, Eugene once again was struck by how beautiful she was. But more than that by how real and warm she was.

"Now that she's back," the Queen continued, "I can only imagine what kinds of ideas those would-be suitors will have in their heads. Especially with her being unattached."

Eugene looked at the Queen who was looking at her daughter before looking back at him.

"Oh you're good," he said to the Queen, realizing that he was as good as sitting in the lessons.

The Queen smiled at him, both knowing that she had won. Of all the things Eugene expected out of Rapunzel's mother, her devious side was certainly not one of them. When they looked over at Rapunzel and her father she smiled and motioned them over. Together they walked over as Max snorted and shook his head, trotting off to join the rest of the guards.

Making their way indoors, the family plus Eugene found themselves in a room hung with intricate tapestries that had Rapunzel pressing her nose against the soft fibers, eyes wide with wonderment at the detail of them. The only rug she had ever had was the worn one in her room, which was nothing like the art that hung in front of her now.

"Oh wow!"

"Oh dear," the Queen looked up as the sky greyed, "it's raining."

"It's raining? Really?" Rapunzel scrambled over to the window, pressing her nose against the glass.

The sky was grey and she could see dark spots on the pristine white of the marble. Twisting her head Rapunzel looked up at the grey sky, watching the clouds roll across the sky. Down below she could see people beginning to hurry inside, wanting to get out o the weather before it got worse. Rapunzel drew back from the window, one hand reaching up and clutching the fabric over her racing heart. It was raining and everyone was running inside to get out of the storm.

"Well it looks like we're not joining you for lunch," Eugene said seizing Rapunzel's hands. She looked at him, delight in her eyes, "our deepest apologies."

The King and Queen looked at each other before the King laid his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"We'll make sure there are some dry clothes for you when you get back," she said.

"Thank you!" Rapunzel cried, tugging Eugene out of the room and down the hall.

Rapunzel ran with him outside, stopping and turning to look at the sky as raindrops splattered her face. Sucking in her breath, Rapunzel stretched out her arms and watched as the rain began to splatter the rose colored fabric of her dress, turning it shades darker. Just like the rain had done with the marble banister. Spinning around, Rapunzel looked at Eugene with a huge grin on her face.

"I can't believe we're in the rain!" she cried with an exuberant laugh, "we're outside and it's raining and this is amazing!"

Twirling around, Rapunzel faced Eugene.

"Don't you think?" she asked.

He was watching her with the same smile she had seen on his face. Not a smolder, not a grin, just a simple curve of his lips that sent her heart racing whenever she saw it. Because she had seen him with tons of other people and she had come to realize that the only time Eugene ever smiled like that was when he looked at _her_. The idea that he had a smile only for her made Rapunzel's heart beat quicker because she both adored the idea and had no idea what it meant.

"I think," Eugene said stepping forward, "that we never got to dance back at the festival."

"But there's no music," Rapunzel said taking his offered hand.

"Sure there is," Eugene said, one of his hands sliding easily around her waist.

Rapunzel placed her hand on his shoulder as he began to move them, seemingly only to the sound of the raindrops splattering on the ground around them. Rapunzel quickly caught onto his rhythm, following his lead as he moved them around the balcony, heedless of the rain that splattered on both of them.

"You're a really good dancer," Rapunzel blurted out finally as Eugene spun her and pulled her back.

"Surprised?" he asked with a devilish grin and a raise of his eyebrow.

"Yes," Rapunzel said before she could stop herself.

Anyone would have been offended but Eugene laughed at her innocence. It was a fair question, after all. He was a thief and he had been an orphan before that. Dancing probably wasn't something she thought of as what he could do. Even though they had joined into the dancing with the rest of the people at the festival.

"Do they have dances at orphanages?" Rapunzel asked him innocently.

"Nah," he said, "but they do have them on holidays. Like christmas or feast days-"

"Or the birthday's of Lost Princesses?" she offered before smiling widely, "I suppose next year they'll just have to call it my birthday."

"I suppose they will," Eugene agreed.

"I hope they still do the lanterns though," Rapunzel continued, "I loved going to see them."

"Just think," Eugene said with a charming smile, "next year you can send up the first one with your parents."

Rapunzel looked up at him. It was true. She knew that when she had been out on the water with him the first lantern that had been sent up was by her parents. Would they expect her to be with them the next year? Rapunzel looked at the man who held her so carefully and danced so easily with her out in the rain even though it seemed everyone else had the sense to stay indoors.

"Well, yes," Rapunzel said slowly looking down before looking back up at him, "but I'd much rather be out on the water with you."

Eugene's eyes widened at her confession, though he quickly smothered the expression when he saw her cheeks flush with embarrassment. He could not, however, help that his fingers tightened against her, drawing the Princess's slight frame closer to him. The sight of her when they had been out on the water, with her eyes full of wonder at the lanterns floating all around them, Eugene was sure that was the single most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Even now as he held her against him he found himself wondering what it would be like to see her surrounded by the lanterns again, this time with her cropped brunette hair instead of the thick braid she had sported last time.

"I'd like that," he said, his voice soft.

The rumble of thunder suddenly echoed across the sky, the loud boom drawing Rapunzel's attention away from Eugene. Lightening split the sky moments later, sending bright light crackling across the heavens. Spellbound, Rapunzel moved forward, looking up at the light and listening to the sound until she reached the edge of the balcony. Laying her hands on the wet marble, Rapunzel blinked the rain from her eyes and watched the lightening dance across the sky.

"You know most kids are scared of storms," Eugene said.

"But it's so beautiful," Rapunzel said, "I tried to paint it once," she added looking at him, "but every time I'd hear the thunder I'd run to my window and the lightening would've already passed," she shrugged, "and I never had the right colors either."

"Hey maybe this can go up first?" Eugene suggested, "for your new walls. I happen to know for a fact you are the proud owner of several shades of grey and four different shades of blue."

Rapunzel beamed at him, happy beyond words that Eugene realized that clouds were not just one color.

"You should help me," Rapunzel said.

"Me?" Eugene failed to keep the surprise off his face.

"Yes," Rapunzel said with a laugh, "I never painted with anyone before!" she sucked in her breath, "I can paint with you. Or with the King. Or with he Queen. Or with-with anyone!" her eyes lit up, "I don't have to paint alone anymore!"

Eugene leaned against the banister with a smile at her joy at the notion that she did not have to paint alone anymore. Watching her he realized he didn't have the heart to tell her that he was not actually artistically talented. But he figured he could hold the ladder for her or something. Rapunzel laughed aloud at the idea before wrapping her arms around herself.

"Okay," Eugene said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "it's time to go inside."

"How come?" Rapunzel asked, a pout on her lips even as her teeth began to chatter.

"Because you're freezing," Eugene said.

"No I'm not," Rapunzel protested.

"'Punzel the last thing that you want to do is spend the second of your first days outside of the tower with a cold-" he realized Rapunzel had stopped dead in her tracks, "Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel looked up at Eugene with wide eyes. He raised an eyebrow, feeling as if he had missed something. Especially since she was looking up at him as though he had said something that she had been waiting a very long time to hear.

"You lost me here. What's wrong?"

"You called me 'Punzel," she said, looking up at him with wide eyes.

He looked down at her, still unsure.

"No-one's _ever _called me that before," she said.

Eugene looked down at her, his eyes softening. Blondie wasn't the most creative nickname in the book and it also failed to have her look up at him like she was currently doing. He smiled down at her, his fingers squeezing her shoulder as he felt her shiver against him.

"Okay 'Punzel," he said, "now it's really time to go inside before you get sick and your parents get angry at me."

"It's strange though," Rapunzel said abruptly as they made their way back to the palace, "to think of them like my parents. Two of them," she said holding up her fingers, "I mean i knew i had two-or that there were two sometime-but still. It's strange."

"Hey you've got a lot to get used to," Eugene said, "new kingdom, new parents," they crossed into the palace, "new hair."

Rapunzel nodded absently. Eugene frowned as he looked down at her. Her cropped hair was plastered around her ears in a look that, while adorable, was a far cry from the 70 feet of blonde silk that she had dragged around for most of her life. Though he knew he should let her think things over, the knowledge that it was his hand that led to her hair being so short forced him to open his mouth.

"Say, 'Punzel," he said, "tell me something," she looked up at him, "how do you feel about the, you know, not having seventy feet of hair thing?" she looked at him blankly, "do you mind not having it?"

Rapunzel looked up at him. She could see why he'd want to know. He had, after all, been the one to cut off the hair that had defined her for her entire life. Even now as she looked at him, knowing that Gothel had wanted her there because of her hair, she wondered if she would still have kept the length, though she supposed now it didn't matter. But the way Eugene was looking at her, like he had done something wrong, made her head spin.

"Are you kidding?" Rapunzel demanded looking at him as if he had grown a second head, "no!"

"No?" He asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"No! Look at me," she laughed stepping away from him, "I can do _everything_ now and my hair doesn't get in the way! I can run and jump and there's no hair to trip over! Look! I can spin and not get tangled!" she said throwing out her hands and twirling as if to demonstrate.

Something purple came flying out of her sleeve and skidded to a stop at Eugene's feet. Bending down the thief picked up the square of fabric, unfolding it to see the gold sun crest. The crest already had creases in it from where she had folded and unfolded it what seemed like many times. His brow furrowed. She knew now that he hadn't betrayed her, but back then she hadn't thought that. But she had still kept the flag.

"Eugene?" he looked up to see her standing there, watching him with her wide green eyes, "what's wrong?"

"You kept this?" he asked, confusion naked in his voice.

"Of course," Rapunzel said, "you took me to see the lights! And even if I was going to go back to Mo-Gothel," she continued, "I wanted to have something so that I could remember them forever."

Eugene looked at her and then back at the square of purple cloth.

"But you thought I had left you," Eugene said, unable to comprehend why she had kept the cheap tourist toy he bought her on a whim.

"Yes," Rapunzel agreed, "I did. But even if it ended badly it was still the best day of my life and you were still the first person I'd met beside Gothel," she blushed, "and I wanted to have something to remember it, and you, by."

"You did?"

"Of course," Rapunzel said, smiling at his confused expression, "it was the best day ever, remember?"

Eugene almost smiled at the memory of the mess of emotions the girl had gone through when they first left her tower and he had been trying to convince her to give him the crown and head home. He had a feeling up until the it was the best day ever, but the idea that she had still kept the paltry souvenir he'd bought her made his pulse stumble. Especially when she looked at him with innocence in her eyes, as if it would have been crazier to get rid of the present than keep it.

At the shiver that worked it's way across her slight frame, Eugene forced his paralysis aside.

"Yeah," he said, "I do," he held out her flag, watching as she quickly folded the fabric and slipped it back into her sleeve, "come on," he said, "lets get you warmed up."

* * *

**Okay I split this chapter up which will make this a, uh, five shot? Except that I wrote a very cute little story about Rapunzel's next birthday which I might put at the end here. **

**Reviews are Love!**


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